Device for disinfecting telephone mouthpieces



May 6, 1952 A. FINLAYSON ET AL DEVICE FOR DISINFECTING TELEPHONEMOUTHPIECES Filed June 19, 1950 Inventors Patented May 6, 1952 OFFICEDEVICE FOR DISINFECTING TELEPHONE MOUTHPIECES Albert Finlayson andWilliam Richard Smith, Kingston upon Hull, England Application June 19,1950, Selial No. 168,878 In Great Britain June 20, 1949 6 Claims.(01179-185) This invention relates to a device for disinfecting atelephone mouthpiece.

It is'common practice to disinfect the mouthpiece of a telephone bywiping the mouthpiece with a cloth impregnated with a disinfectant or byspraying a disinfectant liquid in atomised form over the mouthpiece.Such treatment of the mouthpiece is beneficial but transient and thetreatment must be repeated at frequent intervals.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device fordisinfecting a telephone mouthpiece which is substantially permanent incharacter, is relatively cheap to produce and which may be permanentlyattached to the mouthpiece as an auxiliary component without impairingor in any Way interfering with the speech characteristics.

According to the present invention a device for disinfecting a telephonemouthpiece, includes a cage adapted to contain disinfectant and to fltsnugly on the inside of the mouthpiece and an arm adapted to engage bothwith the cage and in an aperture in the mouthpiece diaphragm to retainthe cage in position. The arm may be permanently attached to the cage.

The cagemay have an opening at its rear, thesaid opening being closed bythe mouthpiece itself when the cage is in position on the mouthpiece, orit may be made in two portions; a rear solid portion having guide meansat either side and a front perforated portion slidably engaging withinsaid guide means. Alternatively, the front portion may be hingedlyconnected at one edge to the rear solid portion.

Preferably the arm is in the form of a flat flexible strip of springsteel having a lip at its outer end adapted to engage the front face ofthe cage to assist in retaining the cage within the mouthpiece. Theinner end of the arm may be formed as a pin of circular cross section tofit within one of the apertures provided in the mouthpiece diaphragm.Penetration may be limited by a collar on the pin. The pin may be splitlongitudinally to retain the arm in its holding position by its ownresilience, or alternatively the inner end may be turned down afterinsertion.

The invention will now be more particularly described by reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of one embodiment of the inventionlocated within a telephone mouthpiece,

same cage and arm as illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 represents a part sectional elevation of the cage and arm asillustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of another embodimentof cage andarm,

- Fig. 5 represents a part sectional elevation of the cage and armillustrated in Fig. 4 as fitted into the mouthpiece,

Fig. 6 represents a perspective view of a further embodiment of theinvention, and

Fig. 7 represents a perspective view of another embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to Figs. 1-3, a cage ll consists of a perforated rectangularpanel I2 which is curved lengthwise so as to present an outwardly facingconcave surface. Crescent shaped flanges I3 depend from the.longitudinal edges of the panel I2 the curvature of the edge of eachdependent flange being greater than that of the panel l2 and conformingsubstantially with the curvature of the telephone mouthpiece such thatwhen the cage H is placed in' position within the telephone mouthpiece aspace is provided within which disinfectant may be contained. The cagell isheld in position within the mouthpiece by an arm 14 made from astrip of flexible spring steel of substantially rectangular crosssection, which is cranked at l5 to provide a bridge l6 extending acrossthe width of the Cage and having a lip I! which engages with the outerdependent flange l3. At its opposite end, the arm is formed as a pin l8of circular cross section, the pin terminating in a collar l9 at itsinner .end. The method of holding the cage within'the mouthpiece isshown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 3, the hatched section 2!]representing I disinfectant.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, a cage 2| consists of a perforatedrectangular panel 22 which is curved lengthwise so as to present anoutwardly concave surface. A flange 23 extends along one edge of thepanel 22 and is shaped to coincide with the lip on the mouthpiece. Inthis embodiment a straight arm 24 has a circular pin 25 at one end and alip 26 at its other end. It is made from a flexible steel strip enablingit to hold the cage in position in the mouthpiece as illustrated in Fig.5. Sufficient space is provided between the panel 22 and the mouthpieceto accommodate disinfectant, either in the form of a thin wafer or asliquid on a cotton wool carrier.

Fig. 6 shows a further embodiment in which a perforated panel 21 hasdependent crescent shaped flanges 28 along each longitudinal edge, eachflange then being bent outwardly to provide rims 29. A solid rear panel30 having inwardly directed channels 3| slidably engages with the frontperforated panel to form a self-contained cage.

Fig. 7 illustrates a further embodiment of a self-contained cage inwhich the front perforated panel 32 is hinged to the rear solid panel 33along the lateral edge 34.

The cage too is preferably made of metal, but the whole device may bemade of a synthetic plastic.

The disinfectant may be provided in solid form or again it may be aliquid which is supported within the cage upon a carrier such ascottonwool.

The disinfectant permanently present in the inside of the mouthpieceslowly vapourizas and fills mouthpiece with vapour. When thedisinfectant is exhausted or is losing its efficacy, the arm may beflexed to permit removal of the cage and insertion of a refill.

We claim:

1. A device for disinfecting a telephone mouthpiece comprising, incombination, a detachable cage for disinfectant formed from foraminatedstrip stock which is bent to a curve of a lesser concavity than that ofthe telephone mouthpiece, and an arm having a plug at one end effectiveto engage within and obturate a single peripheral aperture only of thediaphragm of the mouthpiece and elastically engaging at its other endwith at least a portion of the surface of the cage whilst lying whollywithin the confines of the mouthpiece.

2. A device for disinfecting a telephone mouthpiece comprising, incombination, a detachable cage for disinfectant formed from foraminatedstrip stock which is bent to a curve of a lesser concavity than that ofthe telephone mouthpiece, and an arm made from flexible strip steel ofsubstantially rectangular cross section having one end formed as a pinof circular cross section adapted to fit within and obturate but asingle peripheral aperture in the diaphragm of the mouthpiece and havinga lip at its other end effective to engage elastically with the width ofthe cage Whilst lying wholly within the confines of the mouthpiece.

3. A device for disinfecting a telephone mouthpiece as claimed in claim1 in which a collar is provided on the pin to define the extent of itspenetration into the aperture of the mouthpiece diaphragm.

4. A device for disinfecting a telephone mouthpiece comprising, incombination, a detachable cage for disinfectant formed from foraminatedstrip stock which is bent to a curve of a lesser concavity than that ofthe telephone mouthpiece and which is provided at least along onelongi-- tudinal edge with a crescent shaped flange, the curvature of theedge of which corresponds substantially to the curvature of themouthpiece itself, and an arm having a plug at one end effective toengage within and obturate but a single peripheral aperture in thediaphragm of the mouthpiece and elastically engaging at its other endwith at least a portion of the surface of the cage whilst lying whollywithin the confines of the mouthpiece.

5. A device for disinfecting'a telephone mouthpiece comprising, incombination, a detachable cage for disinfectant consisting of a solidrear panel bent to conform substantially to the curvature of thetelephone mouthpiece, a foraminated front panel formed from strip stockhingedly connected to the solid rear panel at one lateral edge and bentto a curve of lesser concavity than that of the solid rear panel, andhaving longitudinally extending crescent shaped side flanges formedintegral with the foraminated front panel and extending between thefront and rear panels, and an arm having its one end formed as a pin ofcircular cross section effective to engage within and obturate but asingle peripheral aperture in the mouthpiece diaphragm and its other endadapted to engage elastically with the foraminated front panel of thecage whilst lying wholly within the confines of the mouthpiece.

6. A device for disinfecting a telephone mouthpiece comprising, incombination, a detachable cage for disinfectant consisting of a frontpanel formed from foraminated strip stock which is bent to a curve oflesser concavity than that of the telephone mouthpiece, solid dependentorescent shaped flanges extending along each longitudinal edge of thesaid front panel and bent outwardly to provide guides extending thelength of each crescent shaped flange, a solid rear panel which is bentto a curve of concavity substantially equal to that of the telephonemouthpiece, and inwardly directed channels formed integral with thesolid rear panel adapted to engage with the guides on the side flangesof the front panel, and an arm having a pin at its inner end effectiveto engage within and obscure but a single peripheral aperture only ofthe mouthpiece diaphragm and elastically engaging at its outer end withat least a portion of the surface of the front panel of the cage whilstlying wholly within the confines of the mouthpiece.

ALBERT FINLAYSON. WILLIAM RICHARD SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent: 1

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,772,129 Clare Aug. 5, 1930FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 482,933 Great Britain Apr. 7, 1938

